Last night, my girlfriend forwarded the offensive article from the Guardian with the quip “Perhaps you should invite Abbott and Hadley to the B&T 3% Conference and provide rotten fruit for the audience”.

In case you haven’t read it here’s a link, but an executive summary of the diatribe was Abbott and Hadley calling for Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins’ head because she dared suggest a proposal to address the gender in-balance in business.

Well, she may as well have pumped up an AK rifle and rounded up , stripped naked and shot in the head 100 white men, her proposal was deemed so offensive to the two whiny middle aged buffoons.

(Imagine this in a really whiny voice like a toddler might say)

“Oh, they are so anti-man . . . oh young ladies can’t really coach sporting teams”. And to the sex discrimination commissioner – “Pull your head in” – that one from our ex Prime Minister, who’s main claim to fame was knighting Prince Philip.

Fast forward, and an intelligent accomplished Sex Discrimination Commissioner who, incidentally, has been tasked with addressing the gender imbalance, as PART OF HER JOB, is forced to defend herself to the Daily Telegraph against this ridiculous ill-informed juvenile shock jock interview.

So, Mr Abbott and Mr Hadley, let me just remind you of some facts that has nothing to do with being anti-male, is steeped in business and commercial imperative as we move to a democratised new economy where women will control more and more of the economic spend than ever before in recent history.

Bec Bridson, leading authority on the female consumer says:

According to Ernst and Young’s research, women will CONTROL 75% of discretionary spend world wide by 2028”

This is a trillion dollar opportunity for the business community that has until now been predominantly shaped and written through a male perspective

Redressing the gender balance can only be seen as a positive step forward for both men and women. There is nothing anti male about using economic data about discretional consumer spending and creating a strategy to include it.

McKinsey global showed an additional $28 trillion could be added to global GDP if women were treated on par with men in the workplace in financial terms.

B&T is launching the inaugural 3% Australasia, sister to the trailblazing NYC 3% conference end of August. Stay tuned.

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